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Next Door

As a reader, it’s always exciting to see others’ work from around the world. Whether or not they’re in the photography field, their work is the only thing I know about the person behind the lens. In other words, I get to know that person through their photographs and narrations. Some paid assignments/work even get curated and became a third party coverage story. With a much refined presentation, a sort of documentary-like experience that everyone appreciates. That involves multiple individuals at it. I found it then I understood less about the photographer. The photographer became a horse more than a rider.

The one-man band like me is the only pilot you could see. Anything else involves another party is a huge bonus to me. I certainly do not expect anything magically would happen to myself, except capturing moments and scenes that actually wowed me. Sometimes I’m in the right place at the right moment, sometimes not so as pictured in mind. But I believe photographs came to life not because of those special moments and scenes, sometimes I grab whatever feel right in my vision. I appreciate those who could produce consistent work in and out from their experimentation, without the ‘decision moment’ as their framework. I’m chasing after it. There’s just so much out there other than the street photography hashtag alone.

I look at my phone and on the screen it’s my neatly organized gallery. As simple as it is, I could present myself as a modern photographer. From the beginning until now, I treat my mobile work as my side project. I know the work would continue no matter what, even during my the previous months of intensely focused just on analogue.

I encouraged myself to try another photographic medium. Thanks to my voyage through film, it opened doors for me. It takes a few cameras and a few different negatives to understand how much lens yields to clarity and detail. The analogue stuff makes me appreciate more how a photograph is made and how a camera functions to produce imagery, even their history and all. Varied the limitation, varied the rules, a juggle on the fixed shutter speed or aperture can completely change how I formulate for a photograph imagined. I’m looking forward to the next door I could open.